Buckle Down for Some Birthday Not-Cake!
by MelodicStereo
Summary: <html><head></head>Today is the birthday of a particular captain aboard the Heart Pirate's yellow submarine and our special little daydreamer has something planned for him. Not really much else to say… Reviews and comments encouraged and appreciated.</html>
1. Surprise!

It's pitch black. Not a sound was heard aside from the light snoring coming from our target. I couldn't keep a grin from spreading across my face as I held a noise maker pinched excitedly between my fingers. Everyone managed to squeeze into the Captain's room without so much as a whisper. I slowly brought the noise maker to my lips and wrapped them around the hard piece of plastic. Everything was set: Sachi was by the lights, Penguin had the poppers ready, Bepo was holding the ice cream cake (minus the cake part of course), and Jean Bart held a couple of crank noise makers in each hand. All of them were waiting for when I gave the signal. Unable to hold my excitement down any longer, I inhaled the largest breath I could and blew into the noise maker creating a long and very loud _honk_. Our poor Captain woke up with a sputtering jolt; a pained yell ripping through his lips and a pair of tattooed hands clamped to his pierced ears.

"Surprise!"

"Wha—?" The Captain's bare tattooed chest heaved up and down in an effort to return his racing heartbeat back to normal. His liquid silver eyes squinting against the bright lights that Sachi had turned on once I gave the signal.

"Happy birthday, Cap'n!" Bepo piped up as he presented the not-cake to the Captain.

"Congratulations!" Penguin cheered as he pulled the string n his poppers and a small burst of tiny streamers blew out, followed by the vaguest hint of gunpowder. "You're another year older!"

"I think you meant to say 'another year younger'!" Sachi laughed as he clapped his fellow crewmate on the shoulder.

Jean Bart chuckled as he twirled the noise makers around by their cranks.

"C'mon!" I giggled, motioning everyone closer to the bed, "It's time for the birthday boy to blow out his candles and make a wish!" I took out a lighter I had gotten from the kitchen earlier and lit the candles as Bepo held up the not-cake to the Captain.

All of us then began a horrid rendition of "Happy Birthday" in our most obnoxious, ear bleeding voices as possible—as is tradition here with the crew of the yellow pirate submarine. Once the god-awful song ended, we all looked toward our Captain expectantly.

His eyes were cast down, hidden by his unruly ink black hair, and his lips were pressed into a thin line on his face. Then slowly, ever so slowly, he lifted his head and looked at each of us dead in the eye.

"Didn't I tell you I didn't want a birthday party?" he growled through gritted teeth.

Now, to any normal common sense carrying person, the look alone would've told them that our Captain meant business and was not—under no circumstances—to be trifled with; however, the crew of the Heart Pirates were anything by normal.

"Oh, shut up and blow out your candles already—the ice cream is melting." I teased with a smile still on my face. As soon as the words left my lips, my Captain's sharp, narrow glare turned toward me. I held his gaze and after a moment or two of tense silence, he looked away.

"You guys are hopeless." He chuckled lightly as his lips relaxed into a smirk. Immediately, the tension in the air dissipated and the Captain puckered his smirking lips and blew out all of his birthday candles in one shot.

Everyone let out a cheer and clapped with joy. Sachi then pulled out his knife and began to cut the not-cake while Jean Bart grabbed the plates and utensils. He then passed me a slice which I gave to the Captain.

"Here you go!" I smiled as he took the ice cream slice from me. I giggled as I watched him eye the slice suspiciously, "It's Birthday Cake flavored."

He poked the melting ice cream with his fork as he cocked an eyebrow at me. "Birthday Cake flavored?" he repeated skeptically before narrowing his silvery eyes, "There's not any actual cake in this Birthday Cake flavored ice cream, right?" His eyes studied me from the top of his slice, searching for any hints that I was lying.

"Of course not, Captain!" Penguin scoffed as he took a bite of his own slice of not-cake. "Me and Sachi went down to this one shop last time we were docked to have it specially made."

Sachi nodded, "Yeah, the lady looked at us real weird when we told her we wanted an ice cream cake but without the cake part."

"We had to hide it in the freezer for the past couple days so it wouldn't melt." Jean Bart added, cutting himself another slice. "Even had to turn the temperature down to make sure it'd keep its shape."

"When did you guys even have time to do that? I was practically with all of you the whole time we were there." The Captain questioned as he took a hesitant bite; his eyes then lit up at the surprisingly delicious flavor.

"Well see," I mumbled as I averted my gaze, "remember when I took you to that bookstore in the last town?"

"Yeah, of course." The Captain nodded, "I spent hours leafing through different medical books before I finally—" He stopped midsentence and looked at me with wide eyes. "You distracted me so these idiots could go get me a birthday cake?!"

"Hey! We're not idiots!" Sachi protested.

"Yeah!" Penguin agreed, "Do you know how difficult it was to make sure you didn't know anything about this?! Do you know how many heart attacks you nearly caused us? All the headache and hair pulling and sleepless nights we spent trying to make sure everything went according to plan?"

"It's all her fault anyways." Bepo stated calmly as he pointed a dark claw at me. He then turned to Sachi, "More please."

"Bepo!" I exclaimed, shocked that the polar bear accused me of the main cause of everyone's stress.

The Captain the set his empty plate down on the bed before looking at me with calculating eyes, "This was all your fault?" he asked calmly.

Flustered and really not wanting to explain anything, I picked up his empty plate and turned to Penguin, "Hey, Penguin! I think we're all done with the cake so you can bring the presents in now!"


	2. Presents Ahoy!

The Captain arched an eyebrow at the mention of presents and he sighed, "There's more?"

With the presents stacked on top of one another, Penguin brought them all into the room and—rather unceremoniously—dumped them all on the bed.

"Oops." Penguin mumbled when he saw that he'd accidently dumped the present directly on the Captain's lap. "Sorry." He only received a half-hearted glare from the birthday boy.

"Nothing was breakable, right?" Jean Bart asked, pointing at the presents piled on top of the Captain.

"Not mine."

"Mine wasn't."

"I don't think so."

"I hope not."

"If it broke, I need to go break something of that salesman's."

"You guys are a bunch of idiots." The Captain stressed as he moved a particular box off his groin.

"C'mon Cap'n!" Sachi grinned, "The best part about a birthday is all the free stuff you get!"

"I don't think that's all it should be about." I protested half-heartedly.

The Captain started to mumble something under his breath before picking up a bright gaudy penguin patterned present. "Well, I wonder whose this could be…" He hummed, gently shaking the box near his ear.

"Mine of course!" Penguin claimed, raising his hand high in the air with a grin plastered to his face.

The Captain began slowly unwrapping the box, then he chuckled to himself. "A sword polishing kit" he mused. "A pretty high end one at that." He then nodded to Penguin, "Nice."

Penguin folded his arms across his chest in pride at the compliment. However, Sachi quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side, muttering something harshly to him. After a moment or two, both of them came back to the bedside neither one of them looking very happy.

The Captain cocked an eyebrow in question, "You done?"

The two nodded a bit shamefully.

Waiting an extra second before continuing, the Captain then grabbed a flashy metallic hot pink wrapped gift. An awkward smile appearing on his face, he slowly turned his head to look at me, "Really?" he asked, half a chuckle coming out. "Pink? I thought you hated pink."

I gave a half-hearted laugh, "I do." I confirmed. "That's not my gift."

An awkward cough echoed throughout the room, "Uh, that'd be from me." Jean Bart spoke up, scratching the back of his head as he adverted his gaze. "The lady at the place said it'd make the gift better."

"What's the gift then if a bright pink wrapping paper makes it better?" The Captain thought out loud as he stripped the said wrapping paper off the thin long box. A grin came to the Captain's face as he opened up the box and held up the present, "A bottle of 35 year old Glen McKenna." He chuckled as his eyes looked the bottle up and down, "Not a bad choice even though I'm not much of a drinker." He then lifted his head and nodded to Jean Bart, "I'll be sure to break this out on our next special occasion."

Jean Bart gave a hearty laugh, "I was hoping we'd open that sucker up now! But I guess I can wait."

Next, the birthday boy picked up a light green box wrapped with a red ribbon. "Alright, who gave me the Christmas present?" He ordered, waving the box back and forth.

Sachi lifted his hand slowly, "I did, sir." He gulped, "And there's something you should probably know about—"

He was cut short by the birthday boy ripping through the packaging and discovering what Sachi had given him; Sachi pulled his hat lower in an effort to hide his worried face.

"Another sword polishing kit?" the Captain furrowed his brow as he looked at the identical gift in his hands and then shifted his gaze to the first one he opened by his side.

"I'm sorry!" Sachi squeaked, "I didn't know he already got you one just like it!"

"Yeah, Captain!" Penguin agreed, nodding so furiously I thought his hat was going to fly off his head. "It turns out we went to the same store and the same lady sold us the same exact thing!"

The Captain held up a hand to shut his blubbering crewmates; he then let out a small smile. "Now who ever said a lot of a good thing is bad?"

The two stood shocked at their seemingly easy going Captain—the same man who killed almost 50 fellow pirates in his attempt to become one of the Shichibukai—and stared with open mouths.

The birthday boy then narrowed his eyes and his smile turned cold, "Just don't let it happen again."

Sachi and Penguin suddenly stood rigid and clicked their heels, "Yes, Captain!"

The birthday boy smirked as he took a gift wrapped in orange, "Good." Opening it with skilled hands from years of working with a scalpel, the Captain quickly unwrapped his next gift. The smirk turned into a soft smile as he held up a brand new stethoscope and his eyes looked at the polar bear to his left. "I needed a new stethoscope."

Bepo shrugged, "Your old one looked like crap anyways; plus it was always cold."

The Captain's smile transformed back into a smirk at his navigator's remark. "That won't go away with a new one, you know." He explained as he put the stethoscope aside.

"I know," Bepo chuckled.

"So," the Captain continued as he picked up the last present—a small black box with a yellow bow and painted yellow spots—and looked at me out of the corner of his liquid silver eyes. "This must be yours then?"

I nodded with a smile. I wouldn't admit it to any of my crewmates, but I was nervous about my gift. It was a little bit of a risk getting him what I did and I hoped to the depths of my heart that he would like it.

"Like what you did to the box," he comment nonchalantly as he took the bow off. "Clever."

My heart was racing as I watched him with bated breath. He carefully separated the lid from the bottom and glanced at its contents; my breath stilled.

What seemed like an eternity passed by as I stared at his emotionless face before a soft smile formed on his lips. All of the tension that had built up in my body was suddenly released and a sigh even escaped my mouth. With a gentle but calloused hand, the Captain lifted a buckle from the inside of the black and yellow box—a belt buckle to be precise. It took me over two weeks to design and create his present; the rectangular frame was made from a strong and sturdy titanium alloy while the main design—taken from his frontal chest tattoo—was made from a combination of silver and platinum with yellow and black gold details.

Penguin gave a soft chuckle as he gazed upon my gift, "Well, I guess that blows the rest of our presents outta the water."

"No kidding." Sachi agreed smiling as he flicked his nose with his thumb.

Everyone had murmured words of praise at my work; the Captain, however, had yet to say anything about my gift. I could feel my heart begin to sink into my stomach as my chest tightened.

The birthday boy carefully placed the buckle on his night stand and then looked at us with a crooked smile on his face. "Thanks for the presents, you guys. Yet in the future, when I say I don't want a party," his smile suddenly turned cold, "then I mean I don't want a party. Capeesh?"

Everyone hesitated, but nodded just the same.

"Good. Now leave, there's still a lot of work to be done before the day is over and I think we've spent enough screwing around." The Captain waved a dismissive hand.

Feeling a bit depressed and my shoulders slumped, I didn't protest. Suddenly, a strong calloused hand gripped my wrist. Jerking my gaze to its owner, I found myself staring into a half-lidded pair of devilish silver eyes.

"Except you," The Captain whispered, the smirk returning to his mischievous lips. "You stay."


	3. Happy Birthday Law

Flicking my tongue between my dry lips to wet them out of nervousness, I gave him a hesitant nod. Once the last person left the room and the door had shut behind them, the Captain let go of my wrist. He looked me square in the eye and folded his arms across his chest; a critical look came over his features.

"So," he began, closing his eyes and tilting his head slightly to the right, "you're the one to blame for all of this."

The pressure in my chest tightened and I found myself unable to speak.

He opened his eyes when I didn't respond. "I specifically told every one of you to not throw me a birthday party. You know very well that as a member of my crew," he spoke sternly, his lips becoming taught, "the Captain's orders are absolute and should be followed without hesitation or questions." He titled his head back slightly and looked down his nose at me with narrow grey eyes.

The pressure inside my chest was starting to become too great; I was having trouble breathing. I knew that everything he said was true, but I thought he'd make an exception for me. It was then that I thought that maybe I shouldn't have gone directly against his orders; the sting of hot tears began to prick at the back of my eyes and I blinked to prevent them from showing.

"However," he continued, grabbing my arm and pulling me to his lap.

Caught completely by surprise, my body naturally let itself be manipulated. A pair of strong arms wound themselves around my waist and brought me ever closer to their owner. I could feel his hot breath traveling up my neck as his smirking lips found my ear; my body became stiff.

"As my girlfriend," he purred in my ear sensually as chills ran through me, "you're allowed to break certain orders every now and then—if it's for a good reason that is." His fingers gently held my chin and turned my head so that our eyes met.

I gazed at his silver orbs; they held strength, precision, and power, however—in times where it was only him and me—the eyes of 'The Surgeon of Death' sparkled with kindness, gentleness, and love.

His smirk morphed into a soft smile, "Thank you." He murmured lovingly before his soft lips met mine. When we parted, I could feel our hot breaths intermingling as we smiled.

Curling my fingers into a fist, I suddenly socked his arm.

A loud yelp escaped him—more out of shock then of pain—and he stared questioningly at me, "Why the hell did you do that for?!"

"Because you made me think you hated me" I exclaimed, my voice going up another octave unintentionally.

He blinked.

"I-I thought you were going to kick me out because I disobeyed." I confessed, averting my gaze. "and…and because I didn't think you liked the party or-or the...the present I got you." I mumbled almost shamefully under my breath,

A moment of silence enveloped the two of us. Then his arms hugged me tighter as he rested his head on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, his voice quiet and barely audible. "I didn't mean to scare you like that." He paused before continuing, "I really do like your present' I'll start wearing it today once I get dressed."

I let out a small sigh, but I couldn't help the smile that came to my lips, "You don't have to," I murmured, running my fingers through his soft inky black hair, "I'm happy knowing that you like it."

He lifted his head and once again, I found myself captured by the silvery orbs of my Captain. He brought his lips close to mine; his breath still smelled of the birthday cake flavored ice cream. "I love you," he stated, "don't ever leave me side."

The smile on my face grew, "I'll always be with you, no matter what." I confirmed, a tiny giggle leaving my lips. "I love you too, Law. Happy birthday."

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: I just wanted to wish Law a happy birthday today! XD We love you, Dr. Heart Stealer!<p>

PS: Everything belongs rightfully to their amazing author and I only wish that was me...


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